Hunting partners from social media

[Fox]

Understand that.. most of the young guys I hunted with just want to kill stuff. A rabbit/grouse hunt became them shooting at everything they saw move... now by young I mean 18-19 year olds

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By old I am talking about my 70+.

One thing I cannot stand is unsafe handling, I do not want to be a statistic, nor have any of my friends end up in that category either.

[yellow dog]

I have met up with a couple of forum members , hunted with them and had a good time. Also have met another hunter online from an entirely different hunting forum that I will be hunting South Dakota next fall with. I will also be doing a breeding between my female and his male this month . Its best you find a common interest before you hunt with him or her and same political views always helps.

[topher]

By old I am talking about my 70+.

One thing I cannot stand is unsafe handling, I do not want to be a statistic, nor have any of my friends end up in that category either.

By older mean more experienced not really an age thing I have 4 kids and a wife at home. And I like to go home to them. So I understand safety. And yes the 70+ guys (never hunted with one) but generally are stuck in their ways.. and safety for the most part is something that the union guys in the city worry about... (that was my grandfather's saying)

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[Camp Red Maple]

I find it better to hunt with younger people as the older guys I have hunted with have relaxed on their idea of firearms safety.

I like to meet people and do a hunt that is easily made safe and easily removed from, hunting for rabbits on public land seems to work out well, you can leave if you feel unsafe, always bring your own ride.

I find it is not the age but if the person is a nervous type with ten thoughts all going at once are likely to forget or make an error.. I will take experienced over youth anytime. The old guys don't move that quickly and you can keep your eye on them easier.

[TheProvider00]

Since I left Ontario 7 years ago I spent most my time hunting alone. Most of the time it depends on the species and way I am hunting. I have taken out new and old hunters as well as one member I met on a forum. I find it rather easy to judge a character after you read a few of their posts you get a good idea of their judgement and character. A chat with them and you'll learn even more.

I have had better experience with people I met in person or online rather than a friend asking to bring his buddy along. That buddy often isn't someone I'd want to hunt with.

I am fairly easily to get along with and have good character, I don't think I have met anyone who didn't say like me. Before leaving for a hunt with anyone you haven't hunted with before its good to talk about safety, expenses and if your sharing the meat or not.

I also have guys who are quite older than me that I started hunting with, my dads age or younger. I find some of them I don't mind moose hunting with but at the same time I wouldn't want to bear hunt or go waterfowl hunting with. I tend to be gun ho and will do whatever it takes to get an animal. From nasty swamps in Ontario that will makes for hard retrievals of a moose to high altitude thick steep rocky bluffs in BC to hunt mature blacktails I go where the animals are. A hard retrieval is worth it specially if it means cutting a tag. Specially when certain tags are getting harder and harder to get.

Its always nice to meet new hunters. I find its harder to find a good hunting partner than it is to find a new friend. Different styles of hunting, different ethics and safety. Lots to consider.

The best part specially with meeting members is it really opens up Ontario and not to mention Canada to you for hunting. Its easier to meet members who live in Northern Ontario if you live in the south and vice versa. Hard to hunt all of Ontario and all the species if you hunt by yourself unless you have a lot of free time and money. Hunting buddies all over Ontario really opens up opportunities.

[MikePal]

and same political views always helps.

Well there's a criteria that's a new to me....not at the dinner table and especially not when you have a gun in your hands Haha

[jaycee]

I find it better to hunt with younger people as the older guys I have hunted with have relaxed on their idea of firearms safety.

I like to meet people and do a hunt that is easily made safe and easily removed from, hunting for rabbits on public land seems to work out well, you can leave if you feel unsafe, always bring your own ride.

There is also the other side to that story .
You would be surprised at the number of young guy's that do not think of gun safety when hunting or even shooting clays at the club.
Things at times seem to change when they get out and actually hunt or shoot targets , they tend to forget about what they learned by taking the hunting course.
I ran into a few guys out at the club's rifle range [young guys ] they were running around shooting from the hip with semi auto rifles , mini 14's at targets on the ground [rocks , bottles , tin cans etc.] when I mentioned to them the unsafe practice of their actions and pointed out the large sign with rules on it , I was told to eff off as they had paid their membership and could do as they pleased.
I just quietly left as there were 7 of them , took down the license plate numbers and had the ownerships traced through a cop friend, reported to the club executive and their membership was promptly dropped .

And then there are some old guys that also seem to forget , thinking "hey I have done this all my life so it must be ok"

[isartw]

With all due respect to everyone here,do you really want to go to a remote location with an armed person you don't know? Think about it.

This is very good point. But PAL holders are most screened persons in Canada. I do not think this is more risky than walking in Toronto downtown. I hunted with guys I know via social media only and I just prefer to have couple of beers with propect just to make sure I'm comfortable with that/those guy/guys and we discussed everything before we go hunting such as how we commute, who is buying what and etc.
PAL is not an insurance that person is not a piece of s_h_!_t but it gives good level of confidence that person is not a crime.

[Marker]

I find it is not the age but if the person is a nervous type with ten thoughts all going at once are likely to forget or make an error.. I will take experienced over youth anytime. The old guys don't move that quickly and you can keep your eye on them easier.

Its all in the training. I have hunted with guys old enough to have grand kids with no weapons handling training (ie finger off the trigger, arc of fire, moving in bounds etc) and would never hunt again with them.

[Camp Red Maple]

I have had many people up to my camp because as I previously have said the family gang has died or don't hunt anymore. Group hunting with dogs is a lot of fun but hunting by myself this year was a lot of fun too. Usually I would invite people to help defray the cost....they were never shared as I always paid much more in the end. With no one it is actually a lot cheaper lol.

I have met some really nice people and never had any problems or regrets. Nothing has turned out long term but simply put...its my camp...so my way or back to the highway. Just kidding but I usually find people ultimately want to run their own hunt do things their way with ego being a big cause of it (not a lot of team players) or simple cheap and or unreliable.

People usually wear out their welcome and if I am not having fun then unfortunately something is going to change. I have run this camp for 25+ years and look forward to 25 more but when it comes to guest I will be a lot choosier in the future.